1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a terminal, and more particularly, to a terminal which can be connected to a host for performing information processing through a communication line and perform in parallel processing for inputting information to be processed and processing for transmitting information to a host.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, as a credit card has been widely used, a card authorization terminal referred to as a CAT (Credit Authorization Terminal) is put into practice to automate settlement processing with the credit card, or the like. The CAT has a communication function and can be connected to a host computer of a card company through a telephone line. The conventional CAT is provided with a card reader, a keyboard, a display, a printer and the like, to which a PIN pad is connected. The card reader is used for reading card data from the credit card. The keyboard is used for inputting a settlement amount of a customer. The display is used for displaying a guidance message for operation or the result of settlement. The printer is used for printing information concerning settlement. The PIN pad is used for customer's inputting his or her personal identity number.
FIG. 1 is a timing chart of settlement processing performed by the conventional CAT. FIG. 1 shows a case in which settlement processing is performed for three customers. First, information a1 to be settled for one customer is inputted and stored, which information comprises card data, settlement amount data and personal identity number data. Then, a telephone number of the host computer is dialed, so that the host computer is called. Consequently, the information a1 is transmitted to the host computer. The host computer performs settlement processing based on the transmitted information a1, to obtain information b1 indicating the result of settlement. The obtained information b1 is transmitted to the CAT. The transmitted information b1 indicating the result of settlement is displayed on the display in the CAT. Consequently, settlement processing for one customer is terminated, whereby settlement information of the next customer can be inputted. The same processing as described above is performed for the next customer.
In the conventional CAT, as described above, the settlement information of one customer can not be inputted until the settlement processing for the previous customer is terminated, and thirty seconds or more are required for communication processing between the CAT and the host computer. Thus, one customer must wait for a long time until settlement processing for the previous customer is terminated.